No one has ever accused the homebuying process of being straightforward, quick, and easy. Even in the best of cases, it is easy for important things to slip through the cracks. One of the most important aspects of the home buying process is getting Title Insurance, which is all too easily overlooked by those who don’t understand it. For the purpose of this article, we are going to discuss buying a home to live in, but know that everything we are discussing applies to buying commercial properties for businesses as well.
Title Insurance, simply put, states that the seller has the legal right to be selling the house. In turn, this guarantees that when you complete the purchase, you are the indisputable owner of the house. In the process of getting it, it is verified that the seller possesses free and clear ownership of the house. In what sort of cases would they not?
It happens more often than you would guess. Let’s say that someone inherited a house along with their sibling years ago, and now they are selling without their sibling’s involvement. If you buy the house, the sibling can come back and point out that they have a legal right to the house. It can also easily happen with couples who co-owned a property and got divorced. There are even cases of renters pretending to own homes in order to sell them.
Title Insurance is not just for ownership, either. If there are any unpaid loans, taxes, or liens against the home, those can also get tangled up in the process. For instance, if the previous owner had an unpaid line of credit on the home, the lender of that credit line could potentially argue they own a stake in the house. Title Insurance protects against all of these.
Unlike most types of insurance, you only pay for Title Insurance once. From there, a title company will create a title report on the house and the seller to identify any potential issues with the property, including ones that have not yet been addressed. This title report will comb through decades of records in order to flag anything that seems out of place. Once you have the title report, you can properly address any issues with the house.
As experienced real estate attorneys, Schlegel Livingston, LLC offers title insurance services, perform them ourselves, and can help review them. If the seller is choosing the title company, we will make sure that everything they provide is correct and in order. Contact Schlegel Livingston, LLC today if you are in the home buying process and ready to receive the help you deserve. We believe in helping you through life’s most important moments!
Schlegel Livingston LLC
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